Beady Eyes - 1984
Leonard Byrne - that name conjures up a whole lot o’ nothin’ for most folks around these parts. Quite the unassuming fellow, he was slight and small, but he could haul them logs down at Hawkins Lumber Mill. He didn’t have all that much goin’ on up in his head, but he made up for it with his heart. But eyes are the window to the soul, and his painted a picture of a crook and a bad egg, so poor Leonard got the name ‘Beady Eyes’ Byrne.
He didn’t see much outside of the lumberyard, so naturally he fell for Rebecca Hawkins, along with all the other teenagers workin’ the logs. Rebecca was the boss’ daughter, and she’d hang out in her daddys office, waitin’ for him to clock off so he could taxi her here and there. She was a picture, not a hair out of place, which was quite the feat considering the style at the time was… well… big?
Her sweet 16 was comin’ up, and invitations started to make their way around the rich and the beautiful, and let me tell you Leonard was neither of those. But he wanted to go bad, get shoulder to shoulder, cheek to cheek.
Leonard started askin’ the more ‘conventionally attractive’ boys in the yard if they got an invite, but Rebecca was not the sort of person to mingle with folks like them. He made his piece with this, maybe it just weren’t meant to be.
Fate was on his side that night though, and laying on the pavement just outside the lumberyard gates was an invitation to Rebecca’s sweet 16 birthday masquerade. Leonard had never come across that word before and presumed it was just a fancy French word for party. He’d already picked out his Millpond Saints baseball jacket and finest blue jeans in his head, but if he wanted to get close to Rebecca, he’d need to bring along a gift to bedazzle.
Off he went down to Main Street, putting his beady eyes to good use trying to find somethin’ pretty. A little shop called Tilda’s had all kinds of bits and bobs that young girls like to wear, earrings and bracelets and necklaces and such. You won’t find it around now, the high streets changed a whole lot in the last 40 years, and Tilda’s went not long after the end of this story.
What you call a bunch of mannequins all together - a herd? A flock? A gaggle? Well, there was a bunch of ‘em sat in the middle of the shop, and Leonard was immediately drawn to them. To be more specific, he was drawn to the second from left, sporting a high neckline dress with puffy sleeves, neon headband over a permed wig, and large hooped earrings. Completing the look, it had a chunky necklace hanging from her dainty, pale neck.
Leonard wasn’t smart enough to work out immediately what drew him to the mannequin, but he presumed it was the necklace. As he took it up and over the mannequin's head, he felt something strange inside, a warm feeling; joy. This surely must be the necklace to win princess Hawkins over.
I’d like to say he was right, and I’d like to end it there, but I think we both know that would be a lie. The cards were stacked against him from the off, as he strolled through a sea of suits, dresses and seductive masks in an outfit for the drive-thru. When he found her, she didn’t laugh at him like the rest, she looked at him with pity. When he gave her the necklace, she tried her best to hold back a wince, but Leonard saw her true feelings. He shoved the receipt into her hands so she could exchange it for something she wasn’t disgusted by, and hurried out of there as quick as he went in.
He should have been crushed, he should have been heartbroken, but there was something bigger on his mind. He couldn’t stop thinking about that damn mannequin. It wasn’t the necklace at all, it was something else that pulled him to it. He made a deal with himself that, should he get even a wink of sleep that night, he’d return to Tilda’s tomorrow and investigate.
There was purpose in every step as he headed down Main Street towards Tilda’s; his palms were all too sweaty for this crisp spring morning. As he hurried through the door, he saw Tilda, the owner of the shop, putting the final touches on her new display. She also happened to be Rebecca Hawkins auntie, so an awkwardness was shared between the two; an unsaid, mutual understanding of the events the night before. It didn’t phase Leonard in the slightest, though, he was a man on a mission. He surveyed the new shop layout, and without a second glance, he saw her.
She was posed in the corner, now dressed in a navy blue power suit with white pinstripe and padded shoulders, a thick belt across her waist, and pink rimmed sunglasses delicately balancing on the end of her nose. Her smouldering eyes peeked just over the top of the rims, and straight into Leonards heart.
That’s what that feeling was... It was love.
He took a moment to examine her, examine his feelings; she’s just a plastic effigy, isn’t she? This he knew, but that didn’t change his feelings. It felt voyeuristic to stare any longer, and he immediately headed towards the counter where Tilda stood.
She was clearly uncomfortable with his presence, partly because of his bizarre actions, partly because of the stories of last night, partly because of his beady little eyes. Her comfort was dashed even more when Leonard asked if she would be willing to sell the display mannequins…
Back home and Leonard had to smother his glee with a pillow. He’d never had much luck with people, so what luck that his soulmate be without judgement. His ma was a strict woman though, and any talk of love or any of the feelings that go with it would be met with fire and brimstone, so this little secret would have to stay between he and the plastic.
When the sun had gone down and the street lamps were burnin’, Leonard crept out of his bedroom window, fashioned head to toe in black, with a matching rucksack full of all kinds of tools. He’d used this escape route a few times before to avoid the near-inhuman surveillance skills of ma. A little jaunt along the roof tiles, a silent shimmy down the drainpipe, and he was free. And I’m sure you know where this strange boy was heading.
Looking through the window, she didn’t seem to be where he saw her earlier that day, but not to worry, he’d find her soon enough. He scurried round the alleyway to the back of the building, where he could use the bins out back to hoist himself up onto the roof. He jimmied open the skylight with a crowbar from his rucksack, and down he went.
The place would be pitch black if it weren’t for the moonlight shinin’ through the windows. Leonard took a quick look around at the black shapes for her.
Silhouetted against the starry night and posed like a diva on a catwalk, there she stood on the window sill. He was frozen in awe - even in darkness, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. But nothin’ prepared him for what he heard next.
“You came.”
His heart skipped a beat or two, fear’s what he felt initially, swallowed immediately by relief that the affection was returned.
“I can’t believe you came.”
Her voice was soft, sweet, with a little bit o’ spice sprinkled on top. Leonard plucked up the courage to take a step towards her, then two, then three.
“I couldn’t stay away from you” he responded, a coy smile spreading across his face.
As he arrived at the mannequin, he was half expecting her to embrace him, but of course, mannequins don’t tend to do that. Instead, he took her arms, positioned them around his neck, and held her close. He could feel her heart beating against his.
No one quite knows what happened that night, but that was the last time Leonard was seen. Before you go making assumptions, Tilda can attest to this day that no mannequins disappeared from that store, so there weren't no ridin’ off into the sunset for the two, uh, lovers?
The next day, young Rebecca Hawkins visited Tilda’s to exchange the necklace for something a bit more upmarket. After deciding on a fetching pair of earrings, Tilda asked her to stick the necklace back on the mannequin for her. As she approached, she felt something strange inside.
“Those mannequin eyes” she thought, “they look kinda beady”.
